L’International des Mirabelles: Harris and Clain Victorious

L’International des Mirabelles came to its conclusion on Sunday afternoon at Squash Le Reve in Nancy, France, with Asia Harris and Edwin Clain taking home the titles from the Challenger 3 level competition.

Harris came into the women’s Challenger 3 level draw as the No.6 seed, and started off with a confident performance to overcome Frenchwoman Ella Galova in the opening round. She then knocked out No.3 seed Klara Moller in quick time in the quarter finals.

The 17-year-old continued her good form to win her semi-final contest as the tournament’s top seed Sofia Mateos. She dropped just eight points across the match, winning 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 to move through to her first final on Tour.

In the final, she took on compatriot and No.8 seed Kiera Marshall, and the pair were level after two games, both winning one rather comfortably. From there, though, it was a struggle, with both the third and fourth games going to tie-breaks. Harris took the third 13-11, before also securing the fourth 12-10, to take her first Tour title.

In the men’s draw, Clain also began as the No.6 seed at the beginning of the week, and he had to survive a five-gamer to get his campaign underway, winning in the deciding game against Zimbabwean No.1 Blessing Muhwati.

That was followed by the first of three surprise wins, as he defeated Germany’s No.3 seed Valentin Rapp in for games to move into the last four. In the semis, he downed the tournament’s top seed, Yannik Omlor, also in four games, to keep his knockout run going.

The final saw the Frenchman take on No.2 seed Robert Downer, and in a match that swung both ways, it was Clain that came out on top on home soil. The match went to five, after a pair of tie-breaks in the middle part of the contest, and it was Clain that won that deciding game 11-5 to clinch his second Tour title.

Results: L’International des Mirabelles
Men’s Final
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) bt [2] Robert Downer (ENG) 3-2: 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5 (73m)

Women’s Final
[6] Asia Harris (ENG) bt [8] Kiera Marshall (ENG) 3-1: 11-3, 7-11, 13-11, 12-10 (35m)

Men’s Semi-Finals
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) bt [1] Yannik Omlor (GER) 3-1: 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 14-12
[2] Robert Downer (ENG) bt Noah Meredith (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-5

Women’s Semi-Finals
[6] Asia Harris (ENG) bt [1] Sofia Mateos (ESP) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-3
[8] Kiera Marshall (ENG) bt [4] Katie Wells (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-1, 11-3, 11-4

Men’s Quarter Finals
[1] Yannik Omlor (GER) bt Aaron Allpress (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-5
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) bt [3] Valentin Rapp (GER) 3-1: 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7
Noah Meredith (ENG) bt [7] Nils Roesch (SUI) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8
[2] Robert Downer (ENG) bt [5] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) 3-2: 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Sofia Mateos (ESP) bt Elise Romba (FRA) 3-1: 16-14, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9|
[6] Asia Harris (ENG) bt [3] Klara Moller (DEN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-1
[4] Katie Wells (ENG) bt [7] Caroline Lyng (DEN) 3-1: 11-4, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6
[8] Kiera Marshall (ENG) bt Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-9

Men’s First Round
[1] Yannik Omlor (GER) bt Paul Gonzalez (FRA) 3-1: 14-12, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6
Aaron Allpress (ENG) bt [8] Tobias Weggen (GER) 3-2: 11-5, 11-8, 2-11, 9-11, 11-8
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) bt Blessing Muhwati (ZIM) 3-2: 13-11, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7
[3] Valentin Rapp (GER) bt Jack Mitterer (ENG) 3-2: 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 14-16, 11-9
Noah Meredith (ENG) bt [4] Sam Buckley (IRL) 3-1: 11-9, 2-11, 13-11, 11-8
[7] Nils Roesch (SUI) bt Hasnaat Farooqi (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-6
[5] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) bt Jordan Warne (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-4
[2] Robert Downer (ENG) bt Lowie Delbeke (BEL) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7

Women’s First Round
[1] Sofia Mateos (ESP) bt Ana Munos (FRA) 3-1: 11-2, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8
Elise Romba (FRA) bt [5] Jacqueline Peychar (AUT) 3-2: 3-2: 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 6-11, 11-3
[6] Asia Harris (ENG) bt Ella Galova (FRA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-2, 11-7
[3] Klara Moller (DEN) bt Ellie Jones (SCO) 3-1: 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7
[4] Katie Wells (ENG) bt Polly Clark (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-4
[7] Caroline Lyng (DEN) bt Tamara Holzbauerova (CZE) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 15-13
[8] Kiera Marshall (ENG) bt Marie Van Riet (BEL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) bt [2] Katriona Allen (SCO) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-4